@vvvvvilay @elplatt @cayswann @fibrearts @fiberarts @textilearts
E-spinner is now ORDERED!
(!!!!!)
(!!!!)
(Yes, an Ashford. In a bundle with stuff like Niddy-Noddy and Corridale fibre.)

@vvvvvilay @elplatt @cayswann @fibrearts @fiberarts @textilearts
Not being in the US means that I'm going to be hit on the exchange rate, so the eew 6 isn't going to be as cheap for me as it is for you. Being able to 3D print parts is not an advantage for me because I don't have access to a 3D printer.

The Ashford e-spinner has a few advantages for me (despite the fact that it is quite expensive). Ashford seems to be the default spinning equipment provider over here in Australia (seeing as Ashford are based in New Zealand, that makes sense) -- it is Ashford, Ashford everywhere. So, I would expect that local support would be easier. Secondly, the Ashford does look like it is very well made; solidly built and well designed. Sure, it is bigger and heavier than the eew, but since I'm not planning on taking it out and about with me, that isn't something I'm worried about.

One thing that concerns me is that if I got an eew 6, and then found I didn't like it, I'd have to go and buy an Ashford anyway, so why not bypass that and go straight for the Ashford?
That's possibly silly of me, though.

@elplatt @cayswann @fibrearts @fiberarts @textilearts
I am now reconsidering my options, now that I have more data.
1. The spindle I made for myself will not do.
2. Indeed, if it makes my hands ache, it may be unwise to continue with any kind of spindle; I did not factor in that risk when I was considering the pros and cons of spindles. I have to be a lot more careful than I used to be, because my chronic illness makes me more likely to get tendon injuries (and makes it much more difficult to recover from them). (I know, because I got Trigger Thumb in one hand, and instead of taking weeks to get better, it took months)
3. I had hoped that making myself a spindle would be a quick and easy entry-point to spinning. But it looks as if, for me, it is not.
4. This brings me back to an e-spinner.

@elplatt @cayswann @fibrearts @fiberarts @textilearts
I was afraid of that. So I basically made it wrong. I thought it would be okay, since the tutorial/demonstration was done on a similar spindle (only with presumably less mass, because the bead was polyclay rather than ceramic).
Ah well.

@cayswann
Re (4) I am an IDIOT.
I actually go to the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria once a month for my Kumihimo group (that's Japanese braiding). So OBVIOUSLY I should ask the people there about spinning!

@valhalla You building your own spindle reminds me of how I built my first lucet (aka snorgaffel aka string-fork) literally out of a kitchen fork. Because I wanted to try the craft first to see if I liked it, before I actually bought any tools for it.

@textilearts @fiberarts @fibrearts
So far as I can tell, here are the main advantages and disadvantages of the different types of spinning tools.

E-spinner:
Pro: takes up less space
Con: $$$$
Pro: only need to worry about your hands, not your feet
Pro: both hands are free
Pro: not going to injure my feet
Pro: the speed is steady (which some might consider a con)

Traditional wheel:
Con: takes up more space than I have available
Pro: it's traditional, there's more teaching material available
Con: I might injure my feet
Pro: more control over the process

Drop spindle: (which I think includes Turkish?)
Pro: takes up much less space
Con: have to keep on turning the spindle with your hand, the spin doesn't keep up the way a traditional wheel does
(Hey, does that mean you have to do the drafting with only one hand? Surely that would be more difficult?)
Pro: more control over the process

Other kinds of spindle -- I don't know enough about them to say!

@textilearts @fiberarts @fibrearts
Additional information: I am not a spinner, I would be a newbie. There are a few reasons why I would prefer to start with an e-spinner:
1. Doesn't take up a lot of space.
2. From my attempts at learning spinning when a teenager, I think it would be a lot less stressful to learn where I don't have to be controlling feet and hands at the same time.
3. Diabetic means that I'm more vulnerable to injuring my tendons, so I don't really want to take the risk of having to do treadle spinning.
4. The do-multiple-things-at-once would be even more of a problem trying to learn on a Drop Spindle.

@textilearts @fiberarts @fibrearts #Spinning
I am, right now, seriously tempted to get an electric spinning wheel. Even though I'm not supposed to be buying any new yarn. Because the thing which caught my attention and interest was the idea of RECYCLING scrap yarn, by carding it and spinning it into new yarn.
Also, I like the idea of doing my own yarn-plying, specifically for yarns which I already have which are one-ply yarns.

BUT part of me says "NO! Too expensive! Don't spend money!"
And another part says "No, why do you want to dive down the rabbit-hole of ANOTHER craft?"

Expensive? Yes. The frustrating thing is that Australian sellers seem to ONLY want to sell the Ashford e-spinner, or other (European?) e-spinners which are even MORE expensive than the Ashford.

Sure, I could buy a cheap one from China... which doesn't have the right plug and probably won't work.
And before you say "The Dreaming Robots Nano e-spinner is cheap", firstly, they are out of stock and won't have any available until August, and secondly, exchange rate and postage makes it not-cheap.

What should I dooooooo?

Ah, the arms race of ad-blockers versus #YouTube has heated up again; the "undetectable ad-blocker" which I was using is now no longer working. (sigh)
Guess I'll be taking a break from YouTube for a bit.

I suppose it's time to check out PeerTube? What's a good instance?
Any good craft video makers there?
@knitting @crochet @fiberarts @fibrearts @textilearts